


With My Own Eyes

by xama



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crack Treated Seriously, F/M, Luke and Leia have lots of siblings, Sith Jar Jar Binks, mentioned Leia/other, minor original skywalker children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:41:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26689828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xama/pseuds/xama
Summary: In a similar yet markedly different Galaxy, Luke is not the last of the Jedi, but he still acquiesces to his Father's last wish as Darth Vader breaths his last. And across the Galaxy, his friends and family fight for peace.
Relationships: Leia Organa & Anakin Skywalker & Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa & Han Solo, Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker, Luke Skywalker & Jar Jar Binks, Padmé Amidala & Luke Skywalker, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	With My Own Eyes

“Luke… help me take… this mask off.” Darth Vader said, clearly under great strain and in great pain.

Luke, kneeling at his father’s side, looked into his father’s eyes. Or rather, the mask’s eyes. “But you’ll die.” He said, hands placed carefully on his father’s shoulders.

Darth Vader did not shake his head, but the Force gave Luke a clear impression of him doing so. “Nothing… can stop that now.” Vader managed to say. “Just… just for once, let me look on you… with my own eyes.” Vader let out a gusty exhale.

Luke shifted his eyes left and right before leaning forwards and abiding by his father’s last wishes. With a schlik of compressed air, off came the top of the mask. Luke carefully didn’t look at his father’s mangled cranium - the years of mismanaged burns had  not been kind to the man. He quickly moved on to the respirator, knowing that what his father said was true. He didn’t have much time left. It would be right to left him die on his own terms, seeing with his own eyes.

Luke held in a breath - for the first time, and the last time, he would properly see his father’s face. As the mask came away, revealing Darth Vader’s heavily scarred and unnaturally pale face, the Sith Lord’s large, bulbous eyes met Luke’s own.

After a moment of silent camaraderie, Vader blinked. “Luke… my son. Meesa so happy to see you with mysa own eyes.” Luke’s father said, “Now go, my son. Leave me-”

Luke shook his head, denying what he knew to be true. “No. You’re coming with me. I have to save you - I’ll not leave you here.”

Jar Jar Binks let out another of his laborious breaths, “Yousa... alread have, Luke. Yousa were right, yousa were right about me. Tell yousa sister… yousa were right.” And with that, Jar Jar Binks faded.

“Father… I won’t leave you!” Luke said, even as he felt his father finally be at peace. But he accepted it - he had to. One father was dead, but another was waiting. He bowed his head in a silent moment of mourning, then stood and picked up his father’s mask. He deserved a proper send-off, at least.

* * *

Anakin looked up as the Death Star exploded.

“Grandmaster Skywalker?” Leia asked, “Is… is my brother…”

Anakin turned to her and smiled. “No.” He said, shaking his head. “No, Luke is alive.”

Leia sighed, “Meesa so relieved.” She said, her large ears flopping in Endor's wind. “After my father died, I don’t think I could have taken it.”

Anakin nodded - losing Admiral Ackbar had been a big blow to Leia, and to the Alliance as a whole. Admiral Ackbar had a remarkable talent for stating the obvious that nobody could replicate - not even his adopted daughter. “He was only a few days from retirement, too.” Anakin bemoaned.

Leia nodded.

“At least your boyfriend’s still alive, right?” Han cut in, smiling that rakish grin of his.

Leia blushed - at least, Anakin thought she did. He’d raised her brother since he was a guppy, but he still wasn’t quite sure what counted as a blush for Gungans.

“Chewbacca and I-”

Han raised his hands, “Hey sister, you don’t have to defend yourself to me. Whatever makes Chewie happy makes me happy.”

Leia smiled and nodded at Han, and let out a sigh of relief. “It’s over.”

Anakin shook his head, “No.” He looked up into the night sky, and knew his son in all but blood would be planet-side soon. “But it will be.” 

* * *

“Ma?” Shmi asked, looking over her mother’s shoulder. “We’ve got word - the Emperor's dead.”

Padmé heaved a sigh of relief, closing her eyes. Then she turned to her daughter, face serious. “And Vader?”

“Him too.” Smi said confidently.

“A coded message, or a message from your father?” Padmé asked carefully.

Shmi shrugged, “From my brother.”

Padmé breathed out a sigh of relief - Luke was safe. She’d been terrified at first - the little Gungan she’d taken in, raised in memory of and in spite of one of her oldest friends, off to meet his blood father and the evil man who corrupted him.

When Anakin had told them that it had to be this way, she’d denied it. But it needed to be done - Palpatine had been banking on the Alliance putting their entire weight behind this attack. A kind-of all-or-nothing. Anakin - and Padmé was forever glad that she'd gotten a chance to see age mellow him - had cautioned against it. And thankfully, his reputation as the Hero With No Fear, face of the resistance and teacher of so many Jedi had done the job.

Padmé took a deep breath and steeled herself. A Rebellion spread thin - their most elite troops strategically positioned across the galaxy. She unsheathed her blaster and turned to her daughter. She then locked eyes with Sabé and nodded to Winter. She looked over the assortment of Naboo natives and determined off-worlders and nodded. “We’re taking back Theed.” She said, “We may die, but know this: the Rebel Alliance will succeed. The Emperor is dead, Darth Vader is dead. Our cells have been in position and ready for weeks, some for months.” She released a breath, “Now, let’s do our part.” It wasn’t her best speech, and it didn’t need to be. She knew that across the city, another cell was also leaping into action. And in Ottoh Gunga, Luke and Leia’s remaining blood siblings were leading the charge and would reach the surface just in time to fortuitously back them up and save the day.

As Jedi were wont to do.

**Author's Note:**

> So sad and so beautiful. I shed a tear while writing this.
> 
> There are some ideas I didn't explore, so maybe I'll write a sequel one day. For now it's a single work though. Honestly, crack breaks through my writers block. Don't pay attention to the fact that all my fics are crack.
> 
> In case I never go back to this, yes Luke was adopted and raised by the Skywalkers. That's not to say tragedy didn't strike. Is Alderaan gone? Possibly. Is Mon Calamari gone? Oooh probably. Did Luke, an amphibian who is probably cold-sensitive, get his hand frozen off on Hoth instead of cut off by Darth Jar Jar? Did you get tricked by the Sith Jar Jar tag? How does Leia/Chewbacca work, is Chewbacca cheating on his wife or is the Holiday Special not canon? Am I insane?
> 
> Who knows.


End file.
